J Every Day (no days off)

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Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:54 -0400

Zoe Saldana Claims 'People of Color' Do Not Exist

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:12:07 -0400

Zoe Saldana Claims 'People of Color' Do Not Exist:

Clutch magazine’s Evette Dionne takes Zoe Saldana to task for saying, “There’s no such thing as people of color,” and suggests that she enroll in a Critical Race Theory class.

So Right, I agree we should stop focusing on Race and Color…but that’s when the whole damn world stops caring about Who’s what race etcetc. If everyone were colorblind then yes it’d be easy to not identify ourselves as such. With white supremacy, prejudices, discrimination, etc…we can’t ignore. You Zoe, can’t ignore it. She also plays a part of it in Hollywood-A HUGE PART. The controversy behind her playing the role of Nina Simone was an issue because that didn’t seem like color-blind casting it seemed convenient. If Hollywood were color-blind our movies would be extremely different. But that’s not the case.

Here are some comments I read in response to the article:

COMMENT #1: “ As with another commenter, I am also of ambiguous background based solely on my looks. People absolutely love to ask “what are you?” (Of course, a nicer way to say it would be to ask “what is your ethnic or racial background?”, but still…) I can relate to Zoe not wanting to be identified by exactly “what” she is, when that just feels like a small and divisive question. However, I do understand that “people of color” means something, and I fit into that spectrum— I just don’t want to have to explain “what” I am to everyone who thinks I’m interesting because of the way I look without knowing me. If we all got to know each other first, we might not have to ask such dumb questions— perhaps Zoe would talk about her Dominican heritage, for example, if one got to know her.”

COMMENT #2: “She is entitled to her opinion. Even though it is not my view, I’m glad we now live in a world where a person who looks like her (brown skin) can feel that way. She may get further and not trip over as many insults etc. because they don’t register with her, since she is not a person of color in her own mind. Being enlightened can also be a disadvantage…. hello.

I think Black people are offended as she becomes the go to “Black” actress and she won’t even say she is Black. But hey she’s just an actress, and what’s new about Hollywood picking an actress that really isn’t really “Black” to play the “Black girl?” It’s been going on for years.”

COMMENT #4: “ Zoe Saldana is Latina whether she want to admit it or whether African American people who can relate to the completion of her skin do not what to admit to it that’s what it is. Let it sink in and digest it. People of color do exist, we all exist. People always want to defend what other people are especially African American women, it’s not your culture, it’s not your language. Anytime a African American guy has asked me my race and I tell him there’s no questioning afterwards but with a woman it turns into a full on interrogation. People from the islands are something else just because it isn’t what you are and what you think you should take credit for doesn’t mean someone is denying their “race” or beauty it means they are what they are and others have to accept it for what it is.

People always ask multiracial people what they are and then when they answer it the answer gets rejected. For instance,

P1: “Are you mixed?”
P2: “Yes.”
P1: “With what?”
P2: “Puerto Rican, Italian and Black.”
P1: “Well you look Black so you going to go by Black, or you look Black and White or mixed with something.”
P2: “My last name is Medina, I speak Spanish also.”
P1: “So who Black?”
P2: “My mom is half Black and half Italain.”
P1: “But your dad looks Black.”
P2: “I know but he is Puerto Rican. Latino people come in all different colors from blonde hair with blue eyes to very dark skin and course hair but they are all Latino.”
P1: “Well, that’s still black.”
P2: “Well, you asked me about my ethnicity and I told you and if you want to insinuate that I don’t think Black is beautiful or that I’m trying to be different or something other than I am not then too bad. I am multiracial. I know it maybe a hard concept for you but I’m more than one thing.”

I understand Zoe’s response because she is angry because it’s always the first question someone asks and you always know the person asking it is always going to have a problem with it. It’s harassing, you just get fed up with ALWAYS having to explain and defend yourself about what you are. Also, through experience I’ve learned that when you ask people what they are in return they seem to be very knowledgeable about their own race as well so I don’t see the difference, whether what they say is fact or not a lot of African Americans will say they are some type of Native American and not once do I interrogate them about it or make them feel like they are just saying to make themselves look better or more interesting or for whatever reasoning they think it is that other people say when talking about their background. People need to be more knowledgeable and accepting of other people otherwise it’s just fighting fire with fire.

p.s.
Rosie Perez? Nobody ever questions her about her Puerto Rican heritage so why target Zoe? She’s fed up with it all and I don’t blame her but it’s sad that she doesn’t even what to acknowledge or talk about her background because other people ruined that experience for her. Either way, she probably wasn’t raised to focus or put important on race like others may do. Everybody is raised differently and sometimes if you’re “different” you are raised to be “normal” or what you think of to be normal and perhaps being Dominican and Puerto Rican isn’t something you constantly want to spend your time thinking and talking about when you are so much more than just that, we all are. I mean, here she is a great actress and all when can seem to talk about is what she looks like and her race. She is Latina end of story.

Also, there is a documentary ‘A Girl Like Me’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyI77Yh1Gg it should have a lot more views then it does. It’s about Black women and how they and societies seems themselves. “When you don’t know your background it’s like you are at a loss.” I also believe that sometimes to make other people feel empowered by their own race they use people like Zoe Saldana a darker skinned Latina woman as a punching bag to make themselves feel better about being African American. Negative connotation always comes up when talking about the Black race because people who aren’t cultured always think that is why the other person is saying that they are other than Black. Discrimination does exist, society has always preferred a “Whiter” look especially in women but jumping to conclusions about someone’s culture and portraying them as to be a traitor or ashamed of their-self just because there isn’t a desirable answer is wrong and makes the questioner look racially insecure.”

Should we learn this way of being Color Blind? Is it healthy or helpful?

gradientlair: The late great Shirley Chisholm, as photographed...

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:39:46 -0400

gradientlair:

The late great Shirley Chisholm, as photographed by the legendary Richard Avedon. Look…Shirley was THAT Black woman. Feminist. Humanist. Unbought. Unbossed. WORD.

you4eya: illmatic7: Kendrick & Nas YES. This makes me...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:04:51 -0400

you4eya:

illmatic7:

Kendrick & Nas

YES. This makes me happy.

griots.

moorishharem: Copper alloy hollow cast statue of the...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:41:08 -0400

moorishharem:

Copper alloy hollow cast statue of the princess-priestess Takushit at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

micropolisnyc: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:39:40 -0400

micropolisnyc:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. He’s now 65. But once upon a time he was just another black kid growing up in Manhattan.

In New York magazine’s great “Childhood in New York” issue, he talks about moving from Harlem to Inwood and being among the first black people in the neighborhood. His mom was harassed at the supermarket because the manager insisted she was shoplifting, and there was a constant fear he’d get beaten up en route to school by the Irish kids.

“I remember I saw a man get out of a Rolls-Royce—the man was Caucasian, and his driver was black. I said to the driver, “I’m gonna have a car like that one day.”

pipercarter: My Africa

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:29:02 -0400

pipercarter:

My Africa

awakeningapril: Frida by Senegalese photographer Omar Viktor...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:28:46 -0400

awakeningapril:

Frida by Senegalese photographer Omar Viktor Diop shot in Abidjan. #instalove

dynamicafrica: Court of El Azhar University, Cairo,...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:28:42 -0400

dynamicafrica:

Court of El Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

1890.

Ludwig Deutsch.

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Sat, 18 May 2013 20:00:40 -0400

soulbrotherv2: Great sale of slaves, January 10, 1855.

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:38:14 -0400

soulbrotherv2:

Great sale of slaves, January 10, 1855.

Much respect to Kanye.

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:58:34 -0400

Much respect to Kanye.

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Fri, 17 May 2013 17:25:58 -0400

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:09:52 -0400

uncommonjones: The Conservatory by misterpulcri Amber Fort,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:22:22 -0400

uncommonjones:

The Conservatory by misterpulcri

Amber Fort, Jaipur, India

my-spirits-aroma-or: Colors Of India..!! …and out of...

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:07:28 -0400

my-spirits-aroma-or:

Colors Of India..!!

…and out of these colors, the most beautiful is…brown.

bollyhollymusical-itis: Sarita Chaudhary & Denzel...

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:03:15 -0400

bollyhollymusical-itis:

Sarita Chaudhary & Denzel Washington in Mississippi Masasla

rume201: Dreaming

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:24:56 -0400

rume201:

Dreaming

Oroma Elewa by Elias Tahan

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:21:44 -0400

Oroma Elewa by Elias Tahan

thetpr: bonestraightyaki: malformalady: The Black Magic calla...

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:58:44 -0400

thetpr:

bonestraightyaki:

malformalady:

The Black Magic calla lily with extraordinary, deep satiny reddish-black flowers.

Same

These are dope. I want them